Staff Reporter
Islamabad
While criticising the Pakistan People’s Party government in Sindh for allegedly politicising the long-standing issues of Karachi, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Monday said that whenever a national issue arises, the party’s leadership disappears from the scene.
“Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah says that they needed $10 billion to improve the condition of Karachi. Firstly, we don’t have this much money… and secondly even if we had, we wouldn’t have given it to them because it would have ended up in pockets of their leaders,” Shibli said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
He said that the Sindh government has taken trillions of rupees from the Centre, however, the situation on the ground remains miserable. “If you look at hospitals, roads, sewerage system, law and order situation and schools [in Sindh], the condition is terrible,” he added.
The federal minister said opposition parties while giving advises to the Centre for the betterment of Pakistan, only seek NRO for their leadership. “There’s no agenda [of opposition parties], they only want to fail the present government so they could carry out some legislation which would enable their leaders to make an escape… in other words they want NRO,” he added.
He acknowledged that the country was going through a difficult period but added that the government was making an effort to bring it back to its feet. “There is no question that these are indeed tough times. The prices of commodities have increased but the government is trying to tackle these issues.”
Earlier, in a tweet, Shibli had said the federal government and its departments are providing all possible support to Sindh government after heavy rains in the province.
He said that the people of Quaid’s city are being tested after heavy rains and sympathies of entire nation are with them.
The federal minister further said that all possible assistance is being provided to the provincial government without any political bias.
Responding to Shibli Faraz’s comments, Syed Nasir Shah in a statement said that leave $10 billion, just give Rs162 billion to Karachi, the amount promised by Prime Minister Imran Khan on several occasions.
He also demanded of the PTI government to hand over Sindh’s share of Rs172 billion under the NFC Awards. He further said that if there was a Nobel Prize for misleading the nation, PTI government would get it.
